Sherlock Holmes : The Golden Years

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Title: Sherlock Holmes : The Golden Years
Author: Kim H. Krisco
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Crime
Pages: 328
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
ISBN-13: 978-8184957099

Rating: 4/5

Few books have the power to transport you back to childhood. For me, any book with Sherlock Holmes in it, does the trick. I remember borrowing books from friends and reading them huddled in a corner of my bed. It was a perfect accompaniment to wintry nights. It still is.

Sherlock Holmes: The Golden Years is a collection of five stories or five cases if you will after our dear Holmes has retired from active crime solving. The book opens with the story The Bonnie Bag of Bones where in both Holmes and Watson, solve an old mystery up in the misty hills of Scotland. The Curse of The Black Feather is a story where both are approached to put an end to 'baby farming'. Holmes  and Watson, with the help of a gypsy woman, help bust the operation. This story further continues in Maestro Of Mysteries. Holmes is sent for by his elder brother Mycroft for a secret meeting which doesn't end too well. With the British bureaucracy on one side and Holmes and Watson on the other, this story takes both of them through the mysterious streets under London. The Cure That Kills is a fast paced, adventurous case that finds Holmes and Watson dashing across America to fight a deadly detective organisation. The Kongo Nkis Spirit Train is the last story in the book. Here, both travel to Africa where  a 'spirit train' supposedly takes over people's spirits and enslaves them.

Firstly, what a delight to read 19th century English! Phrases like ...wither we were bound and ...with haste! are rarely read these days. It just cleanses your English palate off of the urban slangs and colloquial language that we are so used to these days. Suddenly I'm encouraged to write this way! Anyways, the language is delightful, as already stated. The pace was a little slow, especially in the beginning of The Curse of The Black Feather. But no damage done as it picks up just as quickly towards the end of the story and onwards. Surely, it is a huge task to recreate Sherlock Holmes in a similar style such as Arthur Conan Doyle but, nevertheless, the book has done justice to both the maestro and his masterpiece. The author Kim H. Krisco, definitely deserves all the credit for that.

So, if you have ever wondered what Sherlock Holmes and Watson did after they retired, you have got to get this book. A curious and dynamic mind such as Holmes's cannot be idle, and these adventurous stories are proof to that.

And I would be a complete halfwit to not have recommended this book, would I not, Mr. Holmes? ;-)

*** This book was sent to me by Jaico Publishing House in exchange for an honest review. ***